The present invention relates to technique for vehicle occupant restraint, and more specifically to control of vehicle occupant restraint in the longitudinal (front and rear) direction of the vehicle and vehicle occupant restraint in the lateral (left and right) direction.
Seat belts, air bags and knee bolsters are designed to restrain a vehicle occupant (driver or passenger) in the case of vehicle collision. In general, a seat belt system is worn in an asymmetric manner with respect to the median plane of the occupant""s body, so that the body of the occupant tends to move in a torsional manner. A published Japanese Patent Application, Publication (KOKAI) No. H05(1993)-39000 discloses a vehicle occupant restraint system designed to reduce the torsional movement of an occupant and maximize the impact absorbing effect. This system measures the physical constitution (build) and behavior of a passenger with a passenger measuring sensor, and adjusts air bag, seat belt and knee bolster.
It is an object of the present invention to provide vehicle occupant restraint system and/or method capable of restraining the movement of an occupant more reliably. Another object is to provide vehicle occupant restraint system and/or method for triggering a first restraint system for restraining an occupant in a first direction and a second restraint system for restraining the occupant in a second direction at proper timings upon collision.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a vehicle occupant restraint system comprises: a first restraint apparatus to restrain an occupant in a vehicle in a first direction of the vehicle; a second restraint apparatus to restrain the occupant in a second direction of the vehicle, the first direction being one of a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction of the vehicle, the second direction being the other of the longitudinal direction and lateral direction of the vehicle; a sensing section to sense a first operating condition to detect a collision of the vehicle tending to push the occupant in the first direction, and a second operating condition indicative of movement of the occupant resulting from the collision; and a controller configured to trigger the first restraint apparatus on the occurrence of the collision tending to push the occupant in the first direction, to set a delay time in accordance with the second condition, and to trigger the second restraint apparatus at an instant delayed by the delay time with respect to a first trigger action of triggering the first restraint apparatus.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a vehicle occupant restraining method for restraining a vehicle occupant in a vehicle, comprises: sensing a first operating condition to detect a collision of the vehicle tending to push the occupant in a first direction which is one of longitudinal direction and lateral direction of the vehicle; performing a first trigger action to restrain the vehicle occupant in the first direction; sensing a second operating condition indicative of movement of the occupant resulting from the collision; setting a delay time in accordance with the second condition; and restraining the occupant in a second direction which is the other of the longitudinal direction and lateral direction, at an instant delayed by the delay time with respect to the first trigger action.
The other objects and features of this invention will become understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.